Colonic Diverticulosis In Enugu Nigeria: The Prevalence And Distributional Pattern

A retrospective study on the pattern and prevalence of colonic diverticulosis of inhibitory in Enugu, Nigeria was carried Out. Radiographs and reports of past Barium Enema examinations done over a 10 year period were reviewed and analysed. The prevalence of this disease entity in our community is 6.52% with no significant difference between both sexes. This figure is lower than those of Countries of industrialized West but higher than those of Middle East, India, Ghana. This is 3 times the figure recorded in Nigerians of another city, 15 to 30 years ago. The peak age incidence is the 40- 60 age groups. A right sided predominance was observed. This is similar to the observation in Orientals but contrasts sharply with the findings in Caucasians. The disease coexists with colonic, malignancy in 25% of cases, thus buttressing previous suspicions that both diseases share common aetiological basis. No symptoms were found to be pathognomonic of the disease. Colonic diverticulosis is no longer a rare disease in Nigerians as its incidence appears to be rising. The disease entity has no recognizable predilection for any sex. It occurs predominantly on the right, shows no pathognomonic symptom and may coexist with colonic malignancy in a quarter of the cases.